'Indigent' Marian Morgan gets $350,000 legal team

Wednesday

Mar 28, 2012 at 2:15 PM

Morgan's sister, Lillian Chaterjee, is paying Cohen & Foster. Chaterjee received more than $400,000 from Ponzi scheme, according to court testimony

By MICHAEL POLLICK

Marian Morgan, who claimed she was indigent during her Ponzi scheme trial last September, is now benefitting from $350,000 worth of legal representation from one of the state's most sought-after criminal defense firms, court records show.

The hiring of Cohen & Foster by Morgan's sister, who lives in Canada, comes after the government picked up the tab for her $100,000-plus legal bill for her defense.

As a result of the $350,000 contract, Cohen & Foster will represent Morgan at a sentencing hearing now scheduled for April 27. Morgan faces the possibility of 20 years or more in prison after being convicted of 22 counts related to swindling investors.

The Tampa-based law firm, which took over the case in October, has until now resisted requests by prosecutors and the judge in the case to make its fee agreement public.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III on Friday ordered that the firm's fee agreement with Morgan's sister, Lillian Chaterjee of Ottawa, should become part of the court record.

Attorneys' payments are not normally privileged information, but Cohen & Foster partner Todd Foster argued at a March 9 hearing that it would serve no purpose to disclose his firm's fee agreement.

The judge disagreed.

"At this stage of the proceedings, the public at large, as well as the numerous victims of the Morgans' fraud scheme who seek restitution, have a right to know of the fee agreement entered into by Ms. Morgan's sister on her behalf," McCoun said in his ruling.

"Ms. Chaterjee, the sister, is one of several family members who benefited personally from the fraud scheme," he added.

Testimony during Morgan's trial revealed that more than $600,000 from the long-running fraud was given to members of her family, including $458,100 to Chaterjee.

Morgan committed her crimes in conjunction with her husband, John Morgan, who is serving 10 years in prison for his role in the scheme after pleading guilty to two of 22 felony counts he faced. His release date is tentatively set for May 26, 2018.

The legal payments by Chaterjee could be significant because the government continues to seek a forfeiture judgment of $10 million in connection with the fraud.

"Given the nature of the Morgans' schemes, the fact that more than $1 million taken by the Morgans remains unaccounted for, the interests of justice dictate the court include this fee agreement in the public record of the court," the judge stated.

The undated, five-page contract between Chaterjee and Cohen & Foster calls for a $100,000 wire transfer to the firm by Oct. 3, 2011.

Chaterjee has agreed to pay the balance "at the sale of the guarantor's house, expected to occur in the Spring of 2012," the contract states.

Convicted on Sept. 29 on all 22 counts against her, Morgan originally was scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 20. That sentencing date, however, has been pushed back three times, in part because of Cohen & Foster's introduction as counsel.

McCoun asked Morgan during a March 9 hearing how she was paying for her expensive new legal counsel. Foster, who sat next to her at a defense table, instructed her to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.

In addition to the evidence that she gave Ponzi proceeds to her family, prosecutors also contend that there is still an unaccounted-for $1.8 million in Ponzi proceeds collected by Morgan and her husband, John.

Months after her conviction, in a December letter from her cell in the Pinellas County Jail, Marian Morgan wrote to an unidentified recipient that she had "uncollected proceeds I need someone like yourself to get. I am hesitant to write about it or call you with details.

"If we can 'team' up I'd be very grateful -- as I am 'slightly indisposed' currently. Ha!"